Greetings!
Welcome to the first edition of our newly relauched electronic newsletter "Top of the Hill". Many residents may recall a similar version of this newsletter ran for many years in print format and it was mailed directly to your home. Generally speaking direct print mailings are no longer cost effective for us but we wanted to revitalize this important part of our history thus we are adding an e-newsletter to the platform of tools we currently utilize to further enhance transparency in your local government. We hope you will find it useful in learning more about ongoing issues of importance in our community and the invaluable services our organization provides.
We believe it is important from time to time to reflect upon our past as we continue to move steadily forward in order to ensure we are making sound decisions for our future. It's beneficial both to learn from the occasional past misstep but also to see exactly how far we have come over time.
Case in point, annually we go through an extensive process of evaluating our tax rate taking into consideration a number of components related to the revenue and expense ratio of our entire fiscal year budget. This requires us to delve deep into the property valuations established by the Kenton County PVA, the number of homestead exemptions, housing market expectations, growth in new development, pension and other liabilities, and the overall economy. This year after significant global review of our financial situation we were able to reduce the tax rate to it lowest level since 2011! This decision comes on the heels of additional property tax cuts six times over the course of the last six consecutive years. We also drastically reduced a portion of our occupational licensing fees for local businesses and took steps to eliminate entirely a long standing motor vehicle tax being levied. These changes have positioned us in calendar year 2022 to be one of the lowest taxing agencies in all of Kenton County.
Making savvy operational and financial decisions with your tax payer dollars has allowed us to eliminate all long-term debt obligations, and invest cash reserves in a manner that work for you and yields a return on our tax dollar investments. We also have a solid capital improvement plan for infrastructure needs and came in under budget each fiscal year for the last five continuous years.
Safety and quality infrastructure improvements have been and will continue to be a major focal point for many years to come. Based upon higher demand for services we have grown the staffing levels in both the Police and Fire Department. We've purchased new life and property saving equipment for our Police and Fire/EMS Departments, have a rolling 5 Year Street Improvement Plan that we have committed to in excess of $600,000 annually, and completed major renovations to the South Hills Civic Center. All of these major components have come together and yielded total property value increases of nearly 150 million dollars in the last 10 years - ultimately allowing us to drive down tax burdens to our many residents and business owners.
Looking towards our future, we continue to embark on park improvements, are enhancing community signage and adding gateway features to key community access points to include public bench and trash can replacements to name a few.
We plan to also continue to sponsor annual cleanup days and paper shredding events, host our Spring and Fall Yard Sales, along with our quarterly community blood drives, Santa's Neighborhood Visit, and our Annual Christmas Tree Recycling Program. We encourage you to stay tuned for more valuable information about these efforts in this e-newsletter, on our website, and on our many social media platforms.
You can also stay engaged in your local government by attending City Council Meetings in person, watching them via Spectrum Cable, or streaming them online at www.tbnk.org.
We are grateful to have the opportunity to serve you, and wish to recognize our many staff members who are dedicated to serving and protecting our community and region also.
In the event we can be of service to you please reach out to us individually or by emailing us at info@fortwright.com. Together we are Neighbors Helping Neighbors. Thank you.
Mayor David Hatter
Councilman Dave Abeln
Councilman Adam Feinauer
Councilman Scott Wall
Councilman Justin (Jay) Weber
Councilman Bernie Wessels
Councilwoman Margie Witt
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UPCOMING CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS
The Fort Wright City Council meets the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month at 6 pm. Meetings are held at City Hall in the Council Chambers, located at 409 Kyles Lane. All meetings are open to the public.
Wed, November 2, 2022 - City Council Meeting
Wed, November 16, 2022 - City Caucus Meeting
Wed, December 7, 2022 - City Council Meeting
Wed, December 21, 2022 - City Caucus Meeting
Haven't been tuned into your local government's activities lately? No worries, you can catch up quickly and get up to date information by reviewing our Annual State of the City Address by clicking the link provided; visiting our website, and/or any of our social media pages.
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Most streetlights within the city limits of Fort Wright are maintained by Duke Energy, and reporting a streetlight outage has never been easier. Simply click here to report online an outage in your neighborhood.
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The City of Fort Wright
will celebrate
Halloween Trick or Treat
TONIGHT
Monday, October 31, 2021
6 pm to 8 pm
Those wishing to participate are encouraged to turn your porch lights on during the date and time referenced above.
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PROPERTY TAX BILLS
The 2022 City of Fort Wright Property Tax Bills are arriving in mailboxes. Payments are due by 5:00 pm on Friday, December 30, 2022.
We always offer the following CONVENIENT PAYMENT OPTIONS:
ONLINE – Online payments can be made by visiting our website or clicking here:
Please note – Online payments are accepted by credit card payment ONLY via our online payment portal and are subject to additional bank processing fees.
MAIL – Mail your payment to our secure payment processing center utilizing the envelope enclosed with your tax bill. Please remember to include your payment stub. Payments sent via mail should NOT include cash. We do accept personal checks, money orders, and cashier checks made payable to the City of Fort Wright. Payments sent by mail should be addressed to City of Fort Wright, PO Box 950278, Louisville, KY 40295-0278.
United States Postal Service Postmarks dated on or before December 30, 2022, will be accepted.
IN-PERSON – Visit our office Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM, for in-person service. We are located at 409 Kyles Lane, Fort Wright, KY 41011. In-person payments can be made by cash, check, money order, cashier check, or credit card. We kindly ask that you bring your tax bill and payment stub with you for processing.
DROP BOX – Contactless or After-Hour Payments can be dropped in our Drop Box, located near our lobby entrance at City Hall. Please do NOT deposit cash into our after-hours drop box. Drop box payments should include your payment stub and can be made by personnel check, money order, or cashier check made payable to the City of Fort Wright.
If you have any additional questions, please contact us at 859-331-1700, email us at info@fortwright.com or visit us on the web at www.fortwright.com.
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HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE COLLECTION EVENT
Residents of Kenton, Boone, and Campbell Counties are invited to dispose of their Household Hazardous Waste for FREE at this event. You must be a Boone, Kenton, or Campbell County resident to participate - no businesses allowed.
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